Thoughts on steel vs polymer walls for salt water pool

[Hopefulswimmer]

I'm finally here to say we will be building our pool this spring! This will be a DIY kit from Pool Warehouse. 18x36 in ground. It appears they only offer 48" walls in steel. That height is our preference, but if corrosion is going to be an issue, we surely will go with the 42" polymer.

 

[woodyp]

42?............or.........52?

 

[Newdude]

So if we lived in a perfect vacuum...... your pool water would never touch your pool walls rendering the question moot.

But leaks happen and small, unnoticeable pinhole type leaks can lead to big rust/corrosion problems.

Statistically you are fine with the low calculated risk and steel wall pools have lasted 30+ years since ever.

 

[Hopefulswimmer]

42?............or.........52?

No the walls are either 42 or 48 for in ground.

 

[cowboycasey]

Polymer is the way..... steel will rust and die a horrible death, when it does it will all need to be torn out and replaced... 15 years, 30 years does not matter as it will happen... Polymer will never rust EVER.... salt water, whatever it will not rust... Why they are still making steel walls I will never know...

 

[SSharp]

We would have loved to go polymer, but we opted for 48" steel as we wanted a deeper shallow. Time will tell!

 

[Newdude]

We would have loved to go polymer, but we opted for 48" steel as we wanted a deeper shallow. Time will tell

I'm seriously debating it myself. 30-40 years is now a forever pool for me. I built a concrete/liner pool at my last house and now some other dude has my forever pool. I can point you to many 70s/80s steel pools in my area still going strong.

 

[scout123]

I'm seriously debating it myself. 30-40 years is now a forever pool for me. I built a concrete/liner pool at my last house and now some other dude has my forever pool. I can point you to many 70s/80s steel pools in my area still going strong.

Yup. My aunt had a steel walled vinyl liner pool built in 1978. My cousin, who moved into the house after her parents passed, replaced the liner a couple months ago. We were all surprised that there were no issues with the walls at all...they were still good.

 

[cowboycasey]

Ohhh ya, those older 70 to 90 steel walls were build to last, they had coatings that are banned 10 ways to Sunday now... the ones now have so many regulations they just do not last and there is not as much metal as the old ones..

there are pictures from people on here that put metal walls in and they are almost rusted completely through... I understand the money, it is a couple thousand more for the polymer pool...

 

[Newdude]

Ohhh ya, those older 70 to 90 steel walls were build to last, they had coatings that are banned 10 ways to Sunday now

Lol. So true. *sigh*. Every last product was GREAT until they invented the term ‘cost effective’.

 

[Aquaman7]

If you plan on having a pool for a lifetime, go with polymer. It will look the same as the day it was installed. You never have to worry “how will the walls look when we remove the liner”. Also if it’s a diy the polymer panels are easy to lift. Steel panels will need a machine to lift, an added expense.

 

[SSharp]

Our steel wall pool was diy and we had no problems placing/lifting our panels, even the 8 foot sections. Maybe we're just really strong.